Birmingham Classic: Garbine Muguruza bows out of tournament with second-round loss to Barbora Strycova

Birmingham: Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza fell in the second round of the Birmingham grasscourt tournament on Thursday to Barbora Strycova, the 24th ranked Czech. Strycova beat the top-seeded Spaniard, 6-4, 6-4, in one hour, 26 minutes. “I’m a fighter and I like to fight, on and off the court,” said Strycova. “Sometimes when you fight, you’re rewarded and I’m very happy with my match today.” [caption id=“attachment_4566101” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova. AFP[/caption] Just 10 days before Wimbledon, the third-ranked Muguruza made 29 unforced errors. After dropping the first set, she led 4-2 in the second before collapsing and losing the last four games. Serving for the match, Strycova squandered three match points, the last with a double fault, before steadying to seal victory. “It went so quick and I was serving well, nearly two aces and I was 40-0 and I was shaking,” Strycova said at the press conference. “I’m leading and I’m shaking. I was questioning. Then I start to be very nervous. My hands were shaking. I was like, ‘Why I am shaking? This is not a Grand Slam final.” Strycova now has a 4-3 record against Muguruza and three of the Czech’s victories over Top 5 opponents have come against the Spaniard. “Every time I play her, I have to play my best tennis, and it happens,” Strycova said. Fourth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova, twice a Wimbledon champion, and the winner in Birmingham last year took the first four games against Russian Daria Gavrilova on the way to a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 victory.